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May 7, 2009

G29: Red Sox 13, Spiders 3

After David Ortiz was scratched from the original lineup, Terry Francona shuffled things around and his batting order looked more appropriate for a split squad Grapefruit game in March.

Those nine hitters made American League history in the sixth inning when they scored 12 runs before making an out. The previous AL record had been 11 runs by the Tigers against the Yankees on June 17, 1925. Boston's outburst also tied the major league record, set by the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Phillies, in the eighth inning on May 24, 1953.

Julio Lugo had opened the first inning with a triple and scored on Dustin Pedroia's single, but after that, the Red Sox did little harm to Sowers until the sixth.

Baldelli singled to right-center and Boston led 4-2. J.D. Drew walked and Masa Kobayashi relieved Sowers. Jeff Bailey doubled down the left field line for two more runs (6-2). Nick Green reached on an infield single (beating second baseman Luis Valbuena in a foot race to the bag), reloading the bases.

George Kottaras hit a two-run single to center (8-2). Lugo was safe on an infield single, beating the throw from third. Pedroia singled to left for two runs (10-2). Matt Herges came on as the Spiders' third pitcher of the inning and he fell behind Bay 3-1 before Bay crushed a ball to right-center for a three-run homer (13-2).

The knuckleball was good, but beyond that I don't know what went right. I know I was 14-1 and finished 16-8, but I didn't really pitch bad the last nine games. My ERA only went up one point in 10 games.

Well, Wake he had a 5.60 ERA in his last nine games in 1995: 64.1 innings, 65 hits, 31 walks, 40 strikeouts, 10 home runs, Red Sox went 3-7.

Those things aren't forgotten. ... We know there's a history there between the pitcher in New York and our guys here ... he strikes out 12 guys, doesn't seem to have too many command issues, and if there was a purpose or intent to throw up and in, or if the intent was even further than that, to send a clear-cut message, you can disguise it a little bit more than with a first-pitch pitch in the middle of the back to Jason Bay. ... And we've got a number of games left with these guys.

Bay:

That kind of stuff happens. ... No one ever really knows. It's not the first time I've been hit, and it won't be the last.

Notes: Jacoby Ellsbury may play tonight, but Kevin Youkilis will probably have another night off. ... Daisuke Matsuzaka may make his next start with Portland. ... John Smoltz threw comfortably from 60 feet. ... Jed Lowrie was in the clubhouse sporting a brace on his left wrist.

Jonathan Van Every smashed his shoulder into the center field wall trying to catch a fly ball hit by Victor Martinez in the fifth:

I felt like I got run over by a truck. Concrete is a lot harder than I am. But I'll be OK. ... My joints are a little sore. ... I'm frightened to [look at a replay].

Amy, I often say Cody is really a large cat wearing a dog costume. She is the least doggy dog I've ever met.

Our friends Alan and Fred, who I saw in NYC, once stayed with us for a few weeks - they were moving back to NYC from London. We had just adopted Cody, and she was totally in love with them, especially Alan ("AW1L"). Alan told me he still thinks of Cody and loves her. That was 10 yrs ago!

What I can't understand is (1) how anyone could have abandoned Cassie for the police to pick up (they found her tied to a tree in a trailer park) and (2) why despite that she is still so trusting and loving. Good genes? A good mother dog or first humans?

All our dogs had been abandoned at some point, and all loved and trusted again - and intensely so. Only the one who was abused in such a horrific way had trust issues. Yet even Buster could love and trust again, in the right circumstances.

Pulled up the RS site - it says Lugo gives Wake an early run.Glance over at the box score in the little window and see a !12! in one of the squares. Do a double take, wipe my eyes, look again, and just start guffawing.

9C, you might be right, I don't know, but the fans here who love Cito are (mostly) not basing it on anything factual. Most people here say they last paid attention to the Blue Jays in 1993. They freely admit that they woke up in September of 1992 to discover the team was good.

Lacrosse is the national sport, yes. I have no idea why or what that means. It's played in a lot of universities, just like in the US.

The sports that really matter to Canadians are all winter sports - hockey, curling, speed skating, downhill skiing. The winter Olympics are called "the Olympics" and the summer games are "the summer Olympics," the opposite of what I was used to hearing.

Interesting - I know that a lot of the HS talent comes from the warm spots - CA, FLA, TX, etc - and they tend to have the stronger college programs. Question - Do the NY area minor lg teams get good fan support? Although even as I ask it I would suppose that they do just because NY'ers tend to be baseball knowledgable and supportive, as do most New Englanders in general.

I know that a lot of the HS talent comes from the warm spots - CA, FLA, TX, etc - and they tend to have the stronger college programs.

I believe the southern schools have good college programs because of the climate, but for reasons that wouldn't be applicable to pro teams. That is, the southern schools have climates that allow the baseball players to practice year-round on the field, which partially leads to better facilities, and both of those factors (specifically the ability to practice year-round) probably attracts vastly better recruits on the whole.

Also, the ability to play year round certainly affects the talent of the southern high schools as well for the same reason, the ability to practice the entire year. Especially at that point in the development, that's probably huge.

SoSock, I don't know about fan support in those towns. A lot of the cities have had minor league teams forever, and there's not much else to do there, so I hope they have good support. But I've only been to a handful of minor league games ever, so I don't know.

Wow. 2 hrs 45 minutes.Hard to believe a game featuring 16 runs was played that fast.

Grant - yeah, I do get that. Guess I was just assuming that the abundance of quality lower level baseball would lead to more interest and fans. But that's probably not so true. Major league sports are certainly a different animal, in all sports, and breed a different fan.

So, question still stands, to any of you from those areas. Do the minor league teams get good fan support around there? Or are the teams just there because of proximity to parent clubs, etc.